Justin.tv gets rid of its archives, discontinues premium service

Always remember, clouds may come and clouds may go but always cover your butt. Get local copies of everything even when it seems like a rock solid, long term player. If all your stuff is in Google’s Cloud, can you really say you “own” your videos hosted there? I’m sure more than a few people felt the same way about any of their Justin.tv videos too.

Pioneering live video streaming site Justin.tv is getting rid of all of its archived content, and won’t offer the ability to record and archive any live streams going forward. The company made the announcement in a blog post this week, which read in part:

“We found that more than half of our VODs are unwatched (with 0 or 1 total views), while the vast majority are rarely watched (with 10 or less views). This data was essential in better understanding how our service is being used. (…) It’s quite clear: JTV is a home for live broadcasts. Viewers come to justin.tv because they want to consume content and interact with their communities in real-time.”

The changes will go into effect on June 8, which is also when Justin.tv will delete all previously archived content. Also affected will be broadcasters who have been paying for a premium account, which previously…